In the UK apparently. That is just beyond sad. What a sorry state of affairs over at Nintendo. How far they have fallen since the Wii. I'm guessing that Mario will outsell Knack eventually (or probably not since Sony will probably sell it discounted on PS+ or give it away).

It could also be that the Wii U was a marketing disaster of a name and most people don't realize it's a whole new system and not just an accessory upgrade to the Wii.

Case in point: While I never pay much attention to Nintendo products (not a Mario or Zelda fan, which eliminates 90% of the games), I consider myself at least somewhat plugged into the gaming community. More than your average dude on the street, anyways.

It took me reading this comment today before I realized the Wii U wasn't a touchpad accessory for the Wii. I had no idea it was a new system.

Good lord Nintendo f'd up in so many ways if veteran gamers don't even know they launched a new console (a year after release). It would be funny to street interview people and ask them if they know what a WiiU is, and if they plan on buying one for the holidays (please do this Conan).

It took me reading this comment today before I realized the Wii U wasn't a touchpad accessory for the Wii. I had no idea it was a new system.

What? Really?

Dead serious. I always just thought the touchpad thing hooked up to the Wii and enabled additional functionality. It was something I figured I'd have zero use for, so I just ignored it.

To be fair, I pay exactly zero attention to anything Nintendo outside of the occasional JRPG that gets released. I purchased a Wii only when Xenoblade and Last Story came out, and those were the only two games I played on it. I have a 3DS, and have spent maybe 20 hours on it total in the past year. Nintendo just flies almost entirely under my radar.

We go on forums, so we could be considered the discussion level informed. Eventually the right info gets to us and we also probably read a few news sites like GT. But our natural filters can easily filter out all news about something.

There are others who's only discussion might be a comment or two on facebook about gaming, but they still play just as many games, if not more, than we do. That's the type that where it's so surprising to us informed for them to have missed it.

We go on forums, so we could be considered the discussion level informed. Eventually the right info gets to us and we also probably read a few news sites like GT. But our natural filters can easily filter out all news about something.

There are others who's only discussion might be a comment or two on facebook about gaming, but they still play just as many games, if not more, than we do. That's the type that where it's so surprising to us informed for them to have missed it.

From what I know, the Wii U hits the trifecta of "gaming things I don't give a shit about":

1. Nintendo first party titles (i.e. Mario, Zelda, etc.)2. An emphasis on "social gaming" (I know exactly zero people IRL that play games)3. An emphasis on motion controllers and/or touchpad gaming. (I'm fine gaming on my iPad, but the idea of using a touchpad to control something on my TV is entirely lost on me)

We go on forums, so we could be considered the discussion level informed. Eventually the right info gets to us and we also probably read a few news sites like GT. But our natural filters can easily filter out all news about something.

There are others who's only discussion might be a comment or two on facebook about gaming, but they still play just as many games, if not more, than we do. That's the type that where it's so surprising to us informed for them to have missed it.

From what I know, the Wii U hits the trifecta of "gaming things I don't give a shit about":

1. Nintendo first party titles (i.e. Mario, Zelda, etc.)2. An emphasis on "social gaming" (I know exactly zero people IRL that play games)3. An emphasis on motion controllers and/or touchpad gaming. (I'm fine gaming on my iPad, but the idea of using a touchpad to control something on my TV is entirely lost on me)

Hence why I just ignored it entirely.

The first two points I’ll agree with but that’s mostly because Nintendo screwed up their launch and has failed to attract any third parties that aren’t making ports from other systems.

Your third point though I’m going to disagree with as being an over simplification. The best games on the system use the touch mechanics sparingly to provide either unique experiences or to add additional convenience to the game. A very simple example is that instead of hiding additional options in menus you can just throw a “button” or your player inventory on the touch screen. Basically the same reason why complex games work better on PC than most consoles.

I’ll also say that Pikmin 3 has a brilliant control scheme that almost perfectly uses “motion” controls. The Wii Remote works great as a mouse analogue to give you precise RTS controls which is impossible with just a game pad.

We go on forums, so we could be considered the discussion level informed. Eventually the right info gets to us and we also probably read a few news sites like GT. But our natural filters can easily filter out all news about something.

There are others who's only discussion might be a comment or two on facebook about gaming, but they still play just as many games, if not more, than we do. That's the type that where it's so surprising to us informed for them to have missed it.

From what I know, the Wii U hits the trifecta of "gaming things I don't give a shit about":

1. Nintendo first party titles (i.e. Mario, Zelda, etc.)2. An emphasis on "social gaming" (I know exactly zero people IRL that play games)3. An emphasis on motion controllers and/or touchpad gaming. (I'm fine gaming on my iPad, but the idea of using a touchpad to control something on my TV is entirely lost on me)

Hence why I just ignored it entirely.

The first two points I’ll agree with but that’s mostly because Nintendo screwed up their launch and has failed to attract any third parties that aren’t making ports from other systems.

Your third point though I’m going to disagree with as being an over simplification. The best games on the system use the touch mechanics sparingly to provide either unique experiences or to add additional convenience to the game. A very simple example is that instead of hiding additional options in menus you can just throw a “button” or your player inventory on the touch screen. Basically the same reason why complex games work better on PC than most consoles.

I’ll also say that Pikmin 3 has a brilliant control scheme that almost perfectly uses “motion” controls. The Wii Remote works great as a mouse analogue to give you precise RTS controls which is impossible with just a game pad.

I am also not a social gamer, and while I know there are comments that pop up on the home screen, I barely notice whatever social aspects Nintendo threw in there.